An Argument
by KaelynnD
Summary: Mokuba tries to argue with Seto. One-shot.


Hello all.

Here's a little drabble I wrote while I was bored at work. Enjoy!

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Seto asked.

"I'm sure," Mokuba said.

Mokuba sat down on the couch in their living room, across from Seto, who had just started reading the final chapter of a novel he had been working on for the past week. Seto bookmarked his page with a finger and took off his glasses so Mokuba could see that he had Seto's full attention.

"I love you, Seto."

"I love you too, Mokuba. You're not going to Portugal."

"Okay, but here's why I should go. I'm a VP at an international company, and I've never left the country. This will be practical, real-world experience that will help me later on when I actually have job responsibilities and whatever."

"I'm not letting you travel overseas alone at thirteen years old."

"I won't be alone," Mokuba said. He grabbed one of the throw pillows from the end of the couch and hugged it in his lap. Seto let his gaze flicker from the pillow to Mokuba's hair, which had been pulled back into a messy braid.

"You know Mr. Muto. He'll be supervising, and Yugi will be there."

"I apologize for not being clear, Mokuba. I am not letting you go on an international trip with a group of people I only know from playing a card game with them on occasion."

"To save the world," Mokuba said, holding up a finger. "That's a real bonding experience."

"I understand that you are upset with me, but I can't let you go."

"Then come with us. You're due for a vacation anyway."

Seto shook his head and crossed his legs. He read Mokuba's expression and determined that he wouldn't be able to continue reading for another ten minutes at least, so he closed the book and let it sit in his lap.

"That would not be a vacation. Besides, I'm working."

"You can reschedule work."

"There's a conference, a conference that I planned."

Mokuba groaned. That was about as far as he had made it in any argument along the subject of Portugal, and Seto was mildly curious to see what he would come up with next.

"You go on business trips all the time and leave me here. You don't have a chaperone."

"I'm an adult."

"You weren't when you were fifteen!"

"And you're thirteen."

Mokuba leaned back and pouted out his lips in an annoyed purse.

"I really don't see the big deal. I thought you respected Yugi."

With a sigh, Seto leaned forward and clasped his hands together. He wished that telling Mokuba no to something only had to be said once. The rounds of arguing spanned days. He didn't know why Mokuba continued to try when it failed him so many times over.

"We've seen how frequently trouble finds Yugi. I don't mind you spending the afternoons over at Turtle, or even the occasional game night. That's a ten minute drive-"

"Twenty if you're driving the speed limit."

"A fifteen minute drive from here. If something were to happen, I'm a phone call away. I can't just drive over to Portugal if something happens."

"Nothing is going to happen," Mokuba said. After he spoke, he reached to knock his fist against the coffee table.

"That's almost ironic coming from you," Seto said.

"No one has kidnapped me, attempted to kidnap me, used me to blackmail you, or anything similar in months. Besides, Yugi rescues me from those things half the time anyway."

"Thanks," Seto said. "You know when you try to argue your point with someone, it helps to not insult them."

Mokuba tossed the pillow. "That's not what I meant."

"I don't really care what you meant. The fact of the matter is, you have to stay here."

To Mokuba's credit, he kept calm everywhere but his foot, which tapped on the bottom frame of the couch.

"Is it that you don't trust me to go?"

"I trust you."

"Then what's the real reason? Did you find out that Joey will be there too?"

Seto frowned and straightened his back. He pretended like the recliner was his desk chair and gave his posture the most height he could manage. The effect rarely worked on Mokuba, but Seto hoped it might help his side of the argument.

"I don't care who is going. I'm not, which is really the only thing that matters. I'm not passing you off to a bunch of morons to take care of for two weeks."

"So what, only people who have your level of intelligence are allowed to monitor my every movement? I'm nowhere near as smart as you. Does that mean you should make sure I get in bed every night, teeth brushed and homework done? Can I go for a bike ride without you following in your car? What a shame Gozaburo died or he could have-"

"Mokuba."

Mokuba's eyes widened as large as Seto had ever seen them.

"Sorry. Uncalled for. But you can't just follow me around forever."

"You're thirteen," Seto said, as if bringing it up for a third time would reinforce the fact. "I can't forever, but I certainly will until you're older. And I'm also much more intelligent than Gozaburo was."

"You're saying I can't enjoy things or go places until I'm older. I'll be too busy when I'm older, Seto. Just look at you. You should be going to frat parties or pulling all-nighters pretending to study. But you're running a company, a company that I love and will be super excited to become an official part of after college, but that's a tangent of its own. Seto, it's the summer and I have no commitments. Please let me go with them."

Seto made sure that his glasses were securely on the arm of the recliner before standing up. He walked around the coffee table and sat next to Mokuba, turned in to face him.

"It just won't happen. If I didn't have commitments, I would make an effort to take time off to go with you. But as it stands, I'm booked, which means that you can't go."

"You wouldn't go," Mokuba said. He crossed his arms and slouched, not meeting Seto's gaze.

"Don't do that. The timing of this trip of theirs isn't going to work out for you to go. If they rescheduled to a week that's fairly clear for me, I would let you go, even though I would probably just sit in the hotel and work the whole time. I'm not trying to take anything away from you."

"But you are. I know you think that I'm too young to be doing this sort of thing on my own, but look at what you did at my age. You could've freaking run Portugal."

"I wouldn't have gone to a foreign country alone at that age," Seto said. "Not unless there was some dire necessity related to it."

"I direly need to go?" Mokuba said, testing out each of the words as he said them, but ultimately shaking his head.

"I have a business trip to Rome scheduled next month. If you would like to go with me then, I can add an extra day or two just for you to play the tourist."

"Like Italy?" Mokuba asked.

"Like Italy. You won't be able to hang out with the Geek Squad, but I'm sure you will manage to have a good time."

"I would love that. But you're trying to distract me from the topic."

"Not working, hm?"

Mokuba shook his head with a "Nuh uh."

"Portugal is a firm no."

"No chance at all to change your mind?"

"Not a chance."

Mokuba sighed and pulled out his braid. He picked it apart while his foot kept tapping. Seto wanted to find a way to make him feel better about not getting to go, but had apologized enough for a decision that he believed in. Only for Mokuba.

"When do you think I will be old enough to travel alone?"

"What? Are you already sick of having me hanging around?"

"No," Mokuba said, giving Seto's arm a light shove. "I'm just curious."

"Let's say, assuming that you mature at your current progression and haven't gotten into any sort of life-altering trouble, I'd let you travel within the country, without me, after you turn sixteen. You'll have to be legal for anything else."

"I can do sixteen," Mokuba said. "Why is in the country and out any different?"

"Ease of access to get to you should something happen, and the cultural differences. The first time I went to another country alone, I practically insulted someone's family honor and got kicked out of my meeting. I still don't even know what I did."

Laughing, Mokuba wrapped his arms around his legs.

"I'd be happier with fourteen."

"It's a good thing that my life doesn't revolve around your happiness," Seto said.

He got up and headed back for his book when Mokuba said, "Yeah it does."

Seto chuckled and reclaimed his seat. He put his glasses back on and began to flip through the pages.

"You'd like to think that."

"It's a firm yes, Seto."


End file.
